How many of you want to leave Bs As?

[deeve007]

Typo... I'm worst typist ever.

 

[steveinbsas]

Me too, but if I use the Opera web browser the spell check feature is automatic.

 

[Ashley]

Well I've been in London for two weeks now and can't wait to get back to BA. Quite frankly from a Brit point of view, I don't know what you guys are complaining about. I'm not going to dwell on the gang culture and riots that closed London down for my first week. However below are a few points about what makes BA great in my opinion, and may well be applicable comparisons to other first world cities.

BA is open - try getting a meal after 10.30 or a drink after 11.00 in London, everything is closed or closing.

An equivalent trip by public transport in London is around 20 times the price.

Unless you have got a lot of money there is not much to do in London. BA has a multitude of very high quality free, or incredibly cheap, events every night of the week.

In BA you never have to go to the supermarket. Your butcher is 4 blocks away, your bolivian greengrocer is 1 or 2, and your chino has all the other basics including a great wine selection and is as cheap as chips.

If you cook, the ingredients are wonderful and fresh as the packaging, transportation and storage system is not so sophisticated - things are either ripe and fresh or dead. Compare that with UK supermarket produce.

The weather is marvellous.

People don't talk about money all the fucking time!

People don"t talk about the value of their cars or houses all the fucking time!!!

You are not considered "unclean" if you smoke.

People have time for lunch and then everything is open later.

Rock music is considered of national importance and 3 generations of the same family will turn up to see the same band.

People don't assume you are gay if you want to see a ballet or opera.

THE PORTENOS ARE VERY FRIENDLY - This is the one you all seem to have a lot of difficulty with and the thing I don't understand. I rarely meet someone who is rude, generally receive great service, and don't recognise your depiction of BA (and I have spent a month or two here for the last 15 years and lived here for two now). My only explanation is that maybe they don't like yanquis, though given we had the last war against them there is no logical reason why they should like Brits more.

Where else would your taxi driver run round to buy you a car thus putting himself out of a job - certainly not in the UK

Where else can you afford to send your taxi driver to go off to do your tramites!!!

I know a lot of long term expats ( though not yanquis) who love it here and would sooner cut off their arms than leave.

I could bang on for ages about BA being the most culturally accessible capital of the world at the moment with the greatest quality of life, but will probably just get replies about lack of peanut butter and dog shit on the streets.

dog shit means there are lots of dogs - I like dogs, though I would prefer more horse shit.

Anyway, I write this for the purpose of balance. I would personally be more than happy to spend the rest of my life in BA.

Just need to work out how to make some money......

This is spot-on! I have plenty of complaints about living in Buenos Aires (as I'm sure I would wherever I lived) but the thought of having to go back to the UK where EVERYONE SHUTS UP SHOP AT 5.30pm and where the only cheap entertainment is a packet of pork scratchin's at Weatherspoons, sends shivers down my spine!

 

[deeve007]

Me too, but if I use the Opera web browser the spell check feature is automatic.

But "liked" is a correctly spelt word of itself. Unfortunately spell check doesn't do much for grammar typos.

 

[steveinbsas]

But "liked" is a correctly spelt word of itself. Unfortunately spell check doesn't do much for grammar typos.

Good point.

What more can I say?

To twist a phrase:

Life's a bitch and then you move to Buenos Aires.

For a few it really is good, but for far too many it just isn't.

 

[rrptownley]

It is a widely known truth that Baires has always been inhabited mostly by foreigners. So, if the "aliens made up the majority of the lineage of the city'' does that mean that their customs, good and bad habits come not entirely from native Argentines but from foreigners and their descendants? And that their rudeness and bad manners are not entirely theirs?

My post was not about ‘’ tucking tails between…’’ but about ACCEPTING that every society, from the first to the third-world one, has advantages and disadvantages. I believe Argentina is somehow a young country, which as so, is not mature yet. Their people, melting pot, hotties and other positive epithets many people have used here to describe them, doesn’t seem to fit into this image of uncivilized society that tuck their tails between their legs and don’t embrace evolution or change that’s been said quite recently. I guess it’s a matter of time for the change to happen which as someone said, should come from the individual, but again, I don’t think people from the UK, the USA, France, Germany and so on, were always civilized and proper, were they? Rules and order came from above, after learning from the past and compelling people and instilling in their new generations certain customs and laws. Many of you came here in a quest for LESS CONTROL AND RULES from the government, in a quest for a more laid-back society, less consumerism-orientated society, blablabla……. right?

Is really meaningless drivel to point out that one man’s meat is another man’s poison? The good and the bad things of the Baires’ society are simply different to what ails other big capital cities. Crime, selfishness and lack of common courtesy are commonplace here. People who want to change it knows that it takes time and convincing others that change is possible and perhaps most importantly, necessary. If you take that path, give the example and get ready to have people staring at you for being different. Have some of you tried that instead of whining here? Or moving outside Baires?

If you’re a foreigner and focus on the bad things of a place and their people, dine out with your fellow expats, give your vote to surveys about things you dislike about the place where you live, the things you miss from your country, exchanging personal cards with other expats and keep poking your nose at whatever post that comes up on the expat site, then I guess you’ll end up being just another Johnny-no-argie-mates.

I’ve met some of you and to be honest, you didn’t strike me as being particularly Argentinian-friend-prone. Perhaps more like party animals, seeking for company to enjoy the Baires nightlife, meeting ‘hottie childish women’, finding restaurants where you can find tasty food instead of boring pasta, talking about politics from your own countries, feeling great because you live in a very European city, etc., etc., etc. I’ve seen Argentinians posting and getting no replies to get together. Any ideas why that happened?

Living in a society like this is a cross to bear that many should think about before coming to settle down. I simply thought that it was more constructive to accept that a wrong decision was made when coming here, than pointing out at all the bad things this society has, which by the way, has allowed many expats to live comfortably, happily and profitably.

^^What he said. From reading all the thread I realise I have little in common with the expats posting here. I love my life here in Capital and, although a lot of what they say is true, I do not interpret the posters' opinion of the city nor of its people in the same way.

This is partly the reason why I don't contribute much to Baexpats anymore, it is an arena for negative views; if one has a negative opinion about something they are more inclined to post about it than the person who will be out enjoying his positive outlook.

My instant reaction to this thread was "Shape up, or ship out", but I prefer to communicate myself through my friend Chopper here:

To anyone who feels the need to reply negating my post, bring it, I'll be out eating a fantastic steak, drinking excellent wine and telling my portena girlfriend that I love her.

 

[rrptownley]

Glad you love it! I had a great steak at Kansas last night...at least after I sent it back as it was over cooked.

Each person finds their paradise and this is not mine and obviously I am not alone.

There are wonderful places to eat seafood by the beach (and yes there are girls there as well if you are into that sort of thing)...not here...but that is what I prefer. Too cold for me. Food too bland...you have heard it all before. Not going to bore you.

True, the campo and the culture criolla is a big pull for me. I LOVE the sea and miss living by a beach in a hot country, but currently BsAs is where I want to be with beaches, other capital cities, exotic gems saved for my holidays.

My life is quite simple (bare-bones) here so I may be missing a lot from the picture but, why do they not relocate? Is it not that easy for some?

I'm worried when comes the time where I want to move on that I may encounter similar problems in making the move.

 

[jb5]

You bring up an interesting point Lee. IMO, if you're attracted to restaurants like Kansas, BA probably isn't your town. It's the most corporate American restaurant I've seen in BA.

I think those that will last here are most likely to be searching out the city's best choripan, bandiola and the parillas with no tourists!